Priit Parmasto Takes Down Record-Breaking Kings of Tallinn Main Event
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Estonia's Priit Parmasto is the King of Tallinn after he outlasted a record-breaking field of 716 entrants in the 2023 Kings of Tallinn Main Event. Prior to this event, Parmasto's live tournament earnings weighed in at a shade under $5,500, with a €2,100 ($2,481) score being the Estonian's largest. That result came in the 2021 Kings of Tallinn Main Event, when he finished in 27th place. Fastforward to 2023, and Parmasto has helped himself to the title of champion, in addition to €97,400 in prize money.
The 716-strong field created a €673,040, the largest in the history of the Kings of Tallinn. Parmasto's victory marks the first time since Ranno Sootla captured the title in 2015 that the winner's trophy remains in Estonia.
It was not only the €1,100 Main Event that was a roaring success but the festival as a whole. Some 1,361 unique players from 35 countries bought in 7,838 times across the 53 numbered events, which had buy-ins from €60 up to €5,300. Here is how Parmasto got his hands on the 2023 Kings of Tallinn Main Event title.
2023 Kings of Tallinn Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Priit Parmasto | Estonia | €97,400* |
| 2 | Petteri Laiho | Finland | €102,500* |
| 3 | Antti Veteläinen | Finland | €90,000* |
| 4 | Davide Muccini | Italy | €40,040 |
| 5 | Ignas Vaitulionis | Lithuania | €29,800 |
| 6 | Aleksi Naski | Finland | €22,500 |
| 7 | Sergejs Korobovs | Latvia | €17,600 |
| 8 | Danius Antanaitis | Lithuania | €14,200 |
| 9 | Albert Ostrovskij | Lithuania | €11,900 |
*reflects a three-handed deal leaving €15,000 for the champion
The final table kicked off with Lithuania's Ignas Vaitulionis holding a sizeable chip lead, his 5,655,000 stack (94 big blinds) dwarfing that of the short-stacked Albert Ostrovkij (730,000). Obstrovskij was the first finalist heading to the cashier's desk. Down to only 70,000 chips at the 50,000/100,000/100,000a level after losing with king-jack versus ace-jack, Obstrovskij was all-in with six-five from the big blind. Parmasto min-raised to 200,000 with pocket kings in the hijack, Sergejs Korobovs three-bet to 600,000 from the cutoff with pocket tens, and then called when Parmasto four-bet shoved for 1,500,000. An ace-high board kept Parmasto's kings true, doubling his stack, and eliminating Ostrovskij from the tournament.
Less than 30 minutes later, Danius Antanaitis joined his fellow Lithuanian on the rail. Antanaitis opened to 690,000, leaving himself 500,000 chips behind. Antti Vetelainen moved all-in from the big blind, and Antanaitis called off the rest of his chips. It was ace-jack for the all-in player but a pair of red kings in the hole for Vetelainen. The kings held, and Antanaitis was gone.
Koborovs never recovered from the tens versus kings hand at the start of the final table, and he ultimately fell in seventh place. Korborov was down to around eight big blinds when he moved all-in for 1,300,000 with ace-queen from under the gun. Parmasto looked him up from the big blind with pocket eights, and those snowmen refused to melt, reducing the player count to six.
Those six became five with the untimely demise of Aleksi Naski of Finland. With blinds now 100,000/200,000/200,000a, Vaitulionis shoved from the small blind with ace-king, and Naski, who only had 215,000 left after posting the big blind, called with the dominated king-queen. Both players paired their king on the turn, but the river bricked, and Naski's run ended.
Vaitulionis was the next player finding themselves with fresh air where their stack once stood despite winning Naski's micro-stack. Vaitulionis found himself in something of a cooler spot against Parmasto. Vaitulionis three-bet all-in for 12 big blinds from the big blind after Parmasto had min-raised to 400,000 in the cutoff. Parmasto called, and revealed pocket kings, which were up against ace-king. The jack-high board failed to come to Vaitulionis' rescue, and he had to make do with a still welcomed €29,800 fifth-place prize.
The remaining four players went on a scheduled break, but Davidi Muccini would not make it to another. Vetelainen open-shoved from the small blind, and Muccini considered his options before calling off the 1,900,000 chips, 7.5 big blinds, he was armed with. Muccini turned over king-four, but was in a world of pain against king-ten. Vetelainen's ten-kicker played, and Muccini headed to the cashier's desk.
The three surviving players paused the tournament clock, and discussed a deal. Those discussions proved fruitful, with the last standing trio securing between €82,400 and €102,500, while leaving an additional €15,000 for the champion.
Heads-up was set after a battle of the blinds between Vetelainen and Parmasto. Parmasto limped in from the small blind with ace-queen, and called a 10 big blind shove from Vetelainen, which he made with the dominated queen-jack. Both players missed the flop and turn, leaving Vetelainen drawing to one of three jacks on the river. The river was paint, but it was one pip too high, the queen of hearts resigning Finn to a third-place finish. Vetelainien's €1,100 investment swelled into a €90,000 payday courtesy of the deal struck.
Parmasto started the one-on-one battle with Petteri Laiho holding a two-to-one chip lead, and it took only two hands to press home that advantage. On the 147th hand of the final table, and with blinds of 175,000/350,000/350,000a, Laiho min-raised to 700,000, Parmasto three-bet to 2,000,000, only for Laiho to jam for 8,700,000. Parmasto called, and turned over pocket sevens, which had Laiho's pair of fives crushed. The board ran out sans fives or unlikely straights, busting Laiho in second-place for €102,500, and leaving a delighted Parmasto to receive a €97,400 payout, the winner's trophy, and a place in the Kings of Tallinn history books.
Full 2023 Kings of Tallinn Results
Expand the table below to check out the full list of results from the 2023 Kings of Tallinn festival. They include victories for Kimmo Fagerholm, who defeated Anatoly Filatov heads-up in the €3,000 High Roller event, a result worth €63,156.
Irish legend Fintan Gavin also found himself in the winner's enclosure, taking down the €660 No-Limit Hold'em Mystery Bounty tournament.
The 2023 Kings of Tallinn has only just ended, but players are already planning their assault on the 2024 edition! If you can't wait until 2024 for the next Kings of Tallinn festival, we can tell you that from July 24, 2023, the Tallinn Summer Showdown will take place, nd this summer version of the Kings of Tallinn is equally as exciting, and should see thousands more players from around the world descend on the Estonian capital. Will you be one of them?
All imagery courtesy of the excellent Elena Kask and Tambet Kask
